National security adviser John Bolton said Sunday he believes European nations will ultimately join the U.S. and leave the Iran nuclear agreement.
“I think the Europeans will see that it’s in their interests to come along with us,” Bolton said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Bolton’s comments come despite pledges from European leaders across the board that they will uphold the agreement, even after President Trump announced last week the U.S. would no longer honor it.
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“And they may try to [stay in the deal], in part because I think despite President Trump’s complete consistency in opposition to the deal … many people, including, apparently, former Secretary of State John Kerry, thought that we never would get out of it,” Bolton said.
Bolton added that, once it sinks in that the U.S. doesn’t plan to adhere to the deal, other nations will follow in suit.
Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear came despite pleas from European allies to remain in the Obama-era agreement.
The 2015 deal offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbing its nuclear program. The White House has said the U.S. will put those sanctions back into place.
European leaders vowed in the wake of the announcement that they would remain in the pact. They called on the U.S. not to prohibit the future success of the deal, despite its withdrawal.
Asked if the U.S. would consider imposing sanctions on European nations that continue to honor the deal, Bolton said “it’s possible.”
“It depends on the conduct of other governments,” he said.